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The Collaborative International Dictionary

An exertion of strength or power, whether physical or
mental, in performing an act or aiming at an object; more
or less strenuous endeavor; struggle directed to the
accomplishment of an object; as, an effort to scale a
wall.

We prize the stronger effort of his power. --Pope.

(Mech.) A force acting on a body in the direction of its
motion. --Rankine.

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WordNet

effort

n. earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something; "made an effort to cover all the reading material"; "wished him luck in his endeavor"; "she gave it a good try" [syn: attempt, endeavor, endeavour, try]

a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported populist campaigns"; "they worked in the cause of world peace"; "the team was ready for a drive toward the pennant"; "the movement to end slavery"; "contributed to the war effort" [syn: campaign, cause, crusade, drive, movement]

a notable achievement; "he performed a great deed"; "the book was her finest effort" [syn: deed, feat, exploit]

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Usage examples of "effort".

According to her friends, Laci put a great deal of effort into her appearance.

Maintaining a heightened military status does not require a great deal in the way of additional effort or expenditure.

Festina, however, had put down her fists, and Aarhus was making no effort to prepare for attack.

Callao and Guayaquil to Nicaragua and Guatemala, under pretext of going for pitch and other things, and then often go from there to the port of Acapulco to lade Chinese cloth, in return for a great sum of silver which they carry, practicing many efforts and frauds.

While Makerakera the expert on aggression sweated frantically to weld together a scratch team of whoever could be spared to join him - Choong from Hong Kong, Jenny Fender from Indiana, Stanislaus Danquah from Accra, and some trainees - the little Greek Pericles Phranakis turned his back on the catastrophe and went away down a path of his own, to a land where success had crowned his efforts with a wreath of bay.

As the events are described we see all the great Achaean heroes, familiar to us from battle-scenes, locked now not in combat but in the fierce effort of peaceful contest.

However, the new resident commissioner at Passy, John Adams, required closer study, and in an effort to inform London, Alexander provided an especially perceptive appraisal: John Adams is a man of the shortest of what is called middle size in England, strong and tight-made, rather inclining to fat, of a complexion that bespeaks a warmer climate than Massachusetts is supposed, a countenance which bespeaks rather reflection than imagination.

By early January, 1787, Adams had rushed the first installment of his effort to a London printer.

Persisting in his futile effort, Adams made himself a mockery, even among some who were on his side.

Faced with the prospect of war with France, Adams was determined to make a fresh effort at negotiations in Paris, to bring about a reconciliation, which he believed possible and desirable.

Now, in the eleventh hour of the election, Hamilton lashed out in a desperate effort to destroy Adams, the leading candidate of his own party.

Jefferson had indeed encouraged and paid Callender for his efforts, and he had spoken of Adams in quite unflattering terms on a number of occasions.

IN EARLY 1805, after four years at Quincy, during which he had made little effort to contact others, Adams decided to send a letter of greetings to his old friend Benjamin Rush.

As efforts were made to give Adams more comfort, by changing his position, he awakened.

Bin Ladin, whose efforts in Afghanistan had earned him celebrity and respect, proposed to the Saudi monarchy that he summon mujahideen for a jihad to retake Kuwait.